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Why no DMR2YSF users are being heard anymore, and how to get around it

Why no DMR2YSF users are being heard anymore, and how to get around it

Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:49 am

by AD8DP

Howdy Hamsters,

I have been working on a cool project lately for digital modes. I call it DUDE-Star, which is a combination of software and hardware of my design, to RX and TX various digital modes, both over the Internet and ultimate over RF using, for example, an old analog radio with a packet radio interface or access to the discriminator (RX) and RF Amp (TX). I have created a software only version of all this for monitoring various modes, which I call DUDE-Star RX. My primary development platform is Linux, which the source code was written on. I have included a Windows executable at Github as well, and there is an android version of this on the Google Play store called DROID-Star. The links and more info about this can be found at my QRZ page.

While working on Fusion TX support, I struggled with an issue where my transmissions would only be heard by people connected directly to the same YSF reflector as me, and would be rejected by Wires-X and not reach any users and repeaters on the other end of these nodes. After resolving this issue I learned that the same issue exists for hamsters that use the MMDVM based hotspots like Pi-Star to transmit to Fusion reflectors with a DMR radio. The software that interacts with MMDVMHost to do this is called DMR2YSF. I studied the source code for this software to learn how to add Fusion TX ability to my gadget, so it was no surprise to me that my gadget suffered from the same problem as the DMR2YSF users. From what I have been told, this is a relatively new issue, and appeared with some recent updates to the Wires-X server software.

The issue is that with this new version of the Wires-X server software being used out there, the server will reject Fusion Internet frames that are not sent with a CM (Call Mode) of 1 (RadioID mode) in the FICH (Frame Info CHannel). This mode requires that a Yaesu Fusion Radio ID be correctly defined in the Internet frames. The diff file referenced below shows the changes I made to the DMR2YSF source code that, when built and used in place of the stock DMR2YSF executable binary, allows DMR users to be heard across Wires-X nodes and out repeaters, over RF, etc.

It should be understood that this is not really a 'fix', because that implies that something is wrong with the existing software. This can better be described as a mod or a hack. This works by sending a bogus radio ID over the internet to trick servers into thinking that the TX originates from a real Fusion radio. Is it appropriate to do this? My position on this subject is that in ham radio, anything goes. The basis for this hobby is experimentation, reverse engineering, hacking, tinkering, and so on. I have no interest in the feelings of any major corporation like Yaesu, in the event that they disagree. That being said, here is a step-by-step procedure on how to apply this 'hack' to a pi-star. I use a made up radio ID of H5000 in this example. A great explanation of the Yaesu radio ID format is detailed in this document from K9EQ:http://www.hamoperator.com/Fusion/Fusio ... cation.pdf

The text below is from a ssh session where I log in and perform the following steps. Notice that I make a copy of the stock executable that I replace, so that the system can be restored to stock very easily if desired. The software chages are provided as a diff file (for differences) that I uploaded to my own web server, and download with the wget command. It is applied to the stock source code with the 'patch' command:

rpi-rw (creates read-write filesystem)

mkdir src (make a new dir called 'src' where I will download the source code and build)

Reboot the pi-star after this, and you should be good to go. You can view the diff file to see the C++ code changes here:http://www. removed.

Re: Why no DMR2YSF users are being heard anymore, and how to get around it

Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 8:56 pm

by AE5JO

I can see where random radio ID may cause issues in the future if someone else already has a radio with that ID. Yaesu already uses the radio ID to control repeaters and some DM functions. I expect in the future they will utilize the radio IDs for call routing for radio to radio QSOs and this practice is likely to interfere should there be duplicate radio IDs in the WIRES-X network. All is not fair with closed repeater systems and I think that is how WIRES-X would be considered should independent development cause issues with the system and Yaesu put their foot down.

Re: Why no DMR2YSF users are being heard anymore, and how to get around it

Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2019 8:55 am

by MW0MWZ

Replying here and I have also replied to your e-mail (thank you), as I have said each time this comes up, the very best route forwards is to submit pull requests to Jonathan (G4KLX) and Andy (CA6JAU) for these changes, that way *everyone* will get them, Pi-Star supports the huge effort that goes into all of this software and uses the repositories of the originating developers, and while we encourage the work you are doing and appreciate the effort you put in, it is unlikely that we will diverge from the original repositories.

So, the very best thing to do, once you know your patches are stable and don't cause issues outside of your intended changes (and from the brief look I have taken they wont) then submit the patches up-stream.

If you don't have time for this - let me know and I will see if I can submit your work upstream for you.

Re: Why no DMR2YSF users are being heard anymore, and how to get around it

Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2019 12:56 am

by WX0MIK

Has anything else been done with this in pi-star? I am running into this issue which trying to join a Fusion net. I didn't know why until now. I think this makes sense because some can hear me and some can't.

Re: Why no DMR2YSF users are being heard anymore, and how to get around it

Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2019 1:49 am

by AD8DP

Right now the only option available is for you to apply the software changes manually.

Re: Why no DMR2YSF users are being heard anymore, and how to get around it

Right now the only option available is for you to apply the software changes manually.

Did you submit the patch to get this fixed?

Re: Why no DMR2YSF users are being heard anymore, and how to get around it

Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2020 2:58 am

by AD8DP

I did. See my post under feature requests "new DMR2YSF version available with changes to allow TX over Wires-X". I forked the MMDVM_CM github repo, applied my changes, and submitted a pull request back to the original repo, all as requested. There has been no response for 4 months now.

Re: Why no DMR2YSF users are being heard anymore, and how to get around it

Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 9:19 pm

by PA3BZT

Has anyone successfully implemented this fix and get the DMR2YSF function working?
Just have build me a mmdvm Hotspot and want to implement this fix untill it is solved
in the pi-star software.

73, Fred

Re: Why no DMR2YSF users are being heard anymore, and how to get around it

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 5:50 pm

by MW0MWZ

If you are running Pi-Star v4.1.0 - can you update and test this for me, I've pulled in the patch.

Re: Why no DMR2YSF users are being heard anymore, and how to get around it

Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2020 12:29 am

by AE5JO

Andy, does this only work when using YSF2DMR or should it work to create an RF bridge between YSF and WIRES-X?
I am using 4.1.0 and trying to connect YSF reflector to WIRES-X repeater. It is only working in one direction. The hotspot will receive the repeater and pass to the YSF, but the repeater ignores the hotspot. Is it possible I missed something in the config?